Stolen Mail Raises Identity Theft Fear

Recently, one of these mailboxes outside the New Hyde Park post office was allegedly broken into with a crowbar. (Photo by Anthony Murray)

A recent break-in at the New Hyde Park Post Office has one village resident concerned about identity theft after mail was stolen out of a mailbox outside the office.

One of the three mailboxes that were outside of 1001 Second Ave. was allegedly broken into with a crowbar around 5 p.m. after the post office’s last pickup on Friday, Dec. 21. The break-in could have also happened in the early morning on Saturday.

“I made a complaint that 100 of my holiday cards didn’t go out,” said village resident Cherylann Polvorosa. “The theft wasn’t made known to other residents. So if people are late on their bills, this might be the reason why. It’s serious. You put your trust in the post office.”

When Polvorosa contacted the local police department to make a report, she was told that they couldn’t get involved because it was a federal case. To make matters even worse for Polvorosa, neither the post office nor its Consumer Affairs could compensate her for the $400 she spent on her holiday cards when she informed them about the theft.

“The post office apparently has a clause where unless your mail is insured, they can’t compensate you,” said Polvorosa.

Polvorosa said that she is concerned about identity theft since people’s mortgages or other bills might have been stolen by the unknown culprit or culprits and since there are no cameras outside of the building, it might be hard to find who was responsible.

“I think moving forward if the mailboxes outside aren’t secured, people should just drop their mail into the building instead,” said Polvorosa.

The postmaster, who escalated Polvorosa’s claim, could not be reached for comment by the New Hyde Park Illustrated News.